Power employed by snow leopard to strike (6)
I believe the answer is:
pounce
'strike' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'power employed by snow leopard' is the wordplay.
'power' becomes 'p'.
'employed by' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'snow leopard' becomes 'ounce' (ounce is an alternative name for the snow leopard).
'p'+'ounce'='POUNCE'
'to' is the link.
(Other definitions for pounce that I've seen before include "Jump down on suddenly" , "Swoop down suddenly" , "Spring down on and grasp" , "(Of cat) sudden leap to seize prey" , "Act fast to take advantage" .)